When I first arrived in Argentina, I was overwhelmed. The sights, the noise, the smells unique to the city. It all could've been too much. But on my second day in the country, it got worse. Confronted with strange foods, I found I had a choice — change my palate or go home to America.
I changed my palate and learned to love empanadas and dulce de leche. I still haven't learned to swoon over — or even like — criadillas. Or, as we call them in the states, “Rocky Mountain Oysters”. If you still haven't caught on, they are bull testicles. Even those served with a tasty salsa need buckets of Quilmes to wash them down.
When you visit Argentina be prepared to go back to 1960s Brooklyn. A day of shopping can mean a day of shopping as you move through the labyrinth of streets to find the ingredients for meals next week.
Buy your meat at the butcher, wine at the wine shop and bread at the bakery. There's no big box store within city limits, so go where the brick backyards are shaded by lime and avocado trees and rose bushes garnish the fences.
Definitely memorable.
While similar to a backyard barbecue in America, an asado is more. It's like a family reunion, and the experience revolves more around good friends and family and less about what crazy Uncle Harry is fixing on the grill.
Frank Almeida, originally from Chicago, came to Argentina in 1999 because of a girl and, after creating Argentina's first gourmet cookies, he went on to create unique food and craft beer tours — and decided to stay.
Located in the heart of Palermo Viejo in Frank's home, has become tour central since its launch in 2016. “We are a family business specializing in food- and drink-related tours in Buenos Aires, Argentina,” says Frank.
Writing in “Weird Foods That Could Shock You as an Expat,” Veedushi, Editorial Assistant and Content Writer with Expat.com, says “Moving abroad often means discovering new cultures and trying new cuisines.”
I wonder if anyone ever thought the shoe could be on the other foot? There are plenty of foods, as spelt out in Veedushi's article, which don't sound appealing — at first.
I'm a proud American but will readily admit one thing. My country has produced some truly nasty food.
If you've ever been to a state fair in America and seen the things which drop into the deep fryer will agree.
Some of the foods Redditors and Quora agree are appalling include:
- Chicken and Waffles,
- Sweet Potatoes and Marshmallows, and
- Grits
Chicken and Waffles
I like both, chicken and waffles. But whose idea was it to put them together? Tell me what secret sauce you would use on this? Gravy? Syrup? It's almost like saying that you like tuna and chocolate, so they must go together.
Some things just don't mix well.
Sweet Potatoes and Marshmallows
To non-Americans, marshmallow-covered sweet potatoes sound nasty. But others wonder why you would take something — already sweet — put more sugar on top and cover the lot with sweet marshmallows.
Grits
Grits is not a Southern word meaning ‘tiny rocks'. But after looking at pictures, tiny rocks still look tastier.
The Takeaway
The famous Argentine drink, maté, isn't really that unknown in America anymore. It can be found in almost any health or smoothie shop in the states as well as Europe.
What really makes it different here in Argentina is the communal event drinking maté is. The weirdest is when the outside of the drinking gourd is covered in the skin from a bull's testicles.
If you manage to move past the initial “ick” factor, the communal event is cool and makes you feel like a real Argentine.
